Stars Align
1 // A Power Discovered There are six realms in the singular mass of land on our Earth. Each realm represents something. For example, I, along with my friends and family, live in the human realm; we're all mortal, and were reborn again around two thousand years ago. We are sworn not to speak of the other realms, though they're briefly studied in lower school grades. The five other realms include Good, Evil, Aquatic, Animalic and Spirit. Good consists of light fairies and angels, while Evil consists of basilisks and dark fairies or creatures. Aquatic is well known for it's dagons and mermaids/mermans, while Animalic is known for the centaurs and therianthropists. There's also the Spirit realm, which contains a fairly equal amount of good and bad spirits. “L-Leo!” I stammer, beginning to become upset. “Why did you take me to the forest to play hide-and-seek? I’m eighteen years old, damn it…” “And I’m twenty-one,” He adds, appearing out of nowhere from behind a large tree. “You don’t see me complaining, do you?” He walks up to me, poking my cheeks. I stick my tongue out at him. “You’re so sensitive, Asteroid...” Leon Brady. I call him Leo, he calls me Asteroid, since it sounds so similar to my real name. He’s my best friend of five years. Well, that’s how you could describe it… Truth is, everything clicked the moment we met. Only thing is that it seems that I fell for him the second we became good friends, and he’s seen us as nothing more. Then again, humans are forbidden to date outside of our precise age group, so perhaps he has good reason to. That, and the fact that we have a three year age difference. Irregardless, every girl around adores him. The younger and older. Then again, who doesn’t? His face is adorable, with the perfect jawline and feathered eyebrows. Height of 5’11, just enough so he doesn’t tower over me. His eyes were the darkest shade of green, with freckles splayed across his button nose and upper cheeks. His mousy butterscotch blonde hair fell into his face, always tousled but in the cutest way. It’s like he wakes up like that. Not to mention his body… There’s also me; Astrid Carson, his self-effacing and bashful sidekick. 5’4, with a lil’ tummy fat, and slight curves. Natural jet black hair, and the lightest of grey eyes to contrast. A few freckles sprinkled across my face as well, but not nearly as many, nor as dark as Leo’s. I can’t remember the last time a guy had a crush on me. Many think I’m pretty - much to my disagreement - but not flirty or charming enough to actually be date-able. Liza, my best friend and Leon’s younger sister, giggles alongside the two of us, emerging from the trees as well. “Who said being sensitive was a bad thing?” She says, slinging her arm around my shoulder and pulling me away from him. “Maybe, Leo, you just tease her too much.” Liza, unlike myself, has a way with getting the guys. Age eighteen, she has straight, dyed chestnut hair, and banging dark grey eyes. She also stands a bit taller than myself at 5’8, though has a thinner frame. Her level-headed personality and fiery spirit is mainly what makes her so well-known — popularity being the only thing she has in common with Leon. Leo pulls me away from her and back into him, making my cheeks burn. I quickly stash my face into his chest, looking at the ground as I try to calm myself back down. You’d think that with the amount of times we’d have physical contact I’d get used to it, but I’m pretty ridiculous. “Maybe, Liza-” A ruffle is heard from the bushes, causing us all to turn our heads in that direction. “Was that an animal?” I ask quietly, still slightly clinging to Leo. Liza shakes her head. “No...couldn’t have been. The human realm doesn’t have any. Animals have yet to roam our land for at least a few hundred thousand years.” She says in a quiet whisper. A small groan is then heard from the direction it came in, and I quickly pull myself away. My eyes trail over the surface of the force field, which shows what looks like a slightly dark cave. “Someone’s out there. They sound hurt.” Leo stares in confusion as Liza flips her hair over her shoulder, backing away. “We should all go home, back to the shop. We haven’t even turned off the lights yet, Leo, and you said we’d only hang here for a second.” Another small cry is heard, and I begin walking towards them. “Astrid, are you insane?” I can hear Liza’s voice ask, though I continue on my way, completely ignoring her. “Astrid!” I can see my faint reflection in the forcefield. I bring my hand out in front of me as another grabs my free one, yanking me away. “Astrid-” Both of us stare at my arm, which was extended a fourth of the way into the forcefield. I look over at Liza, who has wide eyes that are trained on my arm. “H-How did-” She then brings out her own hand, attempting to do the same. Her hand doesn’t go through, however, only resting on the surface as if it were a piece of glass. Leo comes up from behind us, trying to do the same, yet only sticking his hand through for a few seconds before pulling back with a small frown. “What’s wrong?” Liza asks, looking over at him. “I was able to do it, I just...it felt weird and uncomfortable. Not sure if I’d want to put my whole body in that.” He replies, resting his eyes on me. “Do you not feel that?” To show him, I step into the complete opposite side of the forcefield, looking at the two from the barrier. Liza still has her hand pressed against it, and Leo looks at me before pointing slightly behind me. Confused, I turn around, finding myself face to face with a large waterfall. My jaw drops in awe, and I walk over to the ledge. My eyes lower down to the crystal, aqua-blue water below, which sparkles from the light that shines in from above. I look up, trying to see the light source. Leaning forward to get a better view, I realize how big of a mistake I made once I slip on the wet rocks I previously stood on. My body swooping forward, the back of my head hits the edge of the cliff, and I hardly notice how far below the waterfall leads to until I’m falling right towards it. My arms flail helplessly, and I can hear very distant screams from whom I’d assume to be Liza. I start to scream as well, though the only thing I can hear is my pounding heart. Soon, my body slams into the water, the impact causing everything to turn pitch black. TBC...